


you are innocent (and I forgiving)

by Precipice



Category: Cavalleria rusticana
Genre: (also in your lover's mother's shop because she took you in after he died), (as in cheating on your wife to cope with her cheating on you), (as in fucking your lover's killer to cope with his abandoning you), (i am self-aware like that), (was the working title of this vignette), (yes it's a reference fo ALW), F/M, Inappropriate Behavior, Infidelity, Vengeance Never Dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24321355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Precipice/pseuds/Precipice
Summary: This is about a betrayed man and a betrayed girl, about stinging wounds and soothing touches, about two hearts that are half-calloused and half-raw.
Relationships: Alfio/Santuzza
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	you are innocent (and I forgiving)

Six months have passed since Easter, and Santuzza has become a part of the wine shop, as much as its proprietor is and more than its heir was.

The clients learn to accept her and, subsequently, ignore her \- not that either is too difficult. A pale young woman in a dark old dress, flitting around without a sound. A ghost and a shadow. She pours the wine and washes the cups, polishes the tables and sweeps the dust, as if she has been here for years instead of months.

Lucia orders her around in very much the same way she used to order around Turiddu; however, if the old woman's voice is as clear as ever, the light in her eyes is gone. Still, they make a fine pair - the dishonored maiden who feels like a widow and the childless mother who feels like an orphan. 

Alfio keeps coming to the wine shop, despite the blood on his hands and the wife in his house and the whispers behind his back.

He comes early in the morning, when Santuzza opens the windows, while Lucia is still asleep in her room. He comes late in the evening, when Santuzza sweeps the floor, while Lucia is already preparing for bed.  
  
He comes, and he talks - where he has been, where he will go, the people he has met, the things he has seen. Santuzza only listens, at first, but after a while she starts talking as well - asks questions, makes comments, even issues requests. He brings her whatever she wants - better soap, new jugs, medicinal cream. She never offers him money, but he never asks for it either.

He comes, and he listens - to the lilt of her voice, to the hiss of her skirt, to the beats of her heart. He touches her hands - to see if the medicinal cream has the desired effect - and notes the protruding bones and the smooth nails.  
  
He comes, and he thinks of Lola in his home and Turiddu in his grave, but he does not talk about them. He knows Santuzza thinks of them as well, and maybe of Lucia too, but she does not talk about them either. Because at its core, this is not about any of them - not about the unfaithful wife or the dead lover or the grieving mother. This is about a betrayed man and a betrayed girl, about stinging wounds and soothing touches, about two hearts that are half-calloused and half-raw.  
  
He comes, early in the morning or late in the evening, when the street is quiet and the shop is empty. He comes, and he makes sure she comes as well.

**Author's Note:**

> opera fanfiction?
> 
> opera fanfiction.


End file.
